Most assessments of conference successes remain impressionistic and anecdotal, although some conferences generated new doctrinal consensus or new institutions to help advance the conference goals (such as UNCHE, with the UN Environment Programme [UNEP]; the 1974 World Food Conference, with the World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development [I FAD]; the 1994 World Population Conference, with its strong endorsement of new population policy albeit without strong institutional support; and UNCED, with its support for the new doctrine of sustainable development but still with a weak Commission on Sustainable Development).

20) For instance, environmental protection was firmly placed on the international agenda at the UNCHE conference, and the preliminary Founex meeting effectively reconciled North-South differences about the priority accorded to environmental considerations in economic planning.

UNCHE helped identify the urgency of addressing land-based marine pollution and the institutional need to create a global environmental monitoring system, which subsequently became one of UNEP's core activities.

The preparation for UNCHE led many governments to recognize the need for creating national environmental agencies.

UNCHE developed new principles of soft law that have been interpreted and applied by international lawyers to inform a generation of international environmental lawyers.

Maurice Strong, secretary-general of UNCHE and UNCED, coined the phrase "the process is the policy" to capture the idea that through conference diplomacy more actors and perspectives could be introduced to international environmental policymaking.

After UNCHE, UNEP was the only international institution responsible for environmental protection.

All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.